


Try Not To Kill Him.

by ThatOddNerd



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Crossover, F/M, Friendship, Humor, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 15:39:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2197284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOddNerd/pseuds/ThatOddNerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He disappears without a trace one day after a meeting with Fury, saying nothing but a "See you later Nat." as he walked by her in the hallway, his expression stoic, and she for once unable to read him at all. "</p><p>Yet another Clint/Natasha 'reunion' one shot I came up with. Sort of spoilers for Age of Ultron. </p><p>This got away from me. This was soooo not what I originally intended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Try Not To Kill Him.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Yeah, okay, so this is beyond not what I originally intended for this. I hadn't intended for this to end up this long, nor had I intended to do a crossover. This got away from me pretty quickly, but it got away from me in such a good way. I know this is not a plausible scenario for the movie, (unlike my other one which is a tiny bit more plausible.) but honestly, this was a lot of fun to write, so I don't really care.
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

 

He disappears without a trace one day after a meeting with Fury, saying nothing but a "See you later Nat." as he walked by her in the hallway, his expression stoic, and she for once unable to read him at all. She expects to actually see him later, and so when she arrives at the Avenger's Tower (Stark insisted on the capitalization of the letters.) later that day and finds out from J.A.R.V.I.S. that "Mr. Barton has not returned to the tower yet today Ms. Romanoff." she was a bit puzzled. She checked her phone for a text message or a call or an e-mail she might have not caught, and saw nothing but a text from Steve asking her what a semicolon followed by a left facing curved bracket was supposed to mean. Frustrated, she threw the phone hard against the wall, getting a little bit of satisfaction when it shattered. She goes to her floor and power walks into her room, wishing it was a normal door instead of an automatic sliding one so she could shut it hard in frustration. It was there that she saw it, the small velvet box on one of the pillows on her bed. She walks over to it and opens it, finding an arrow necklace inside and she can't help but smile. There is a note next to it and all it says is "I'm sorry." and that gets her worried. Sorry for what?

She never gets any answers. Not from Fury, not from Hill, not from anyone. She gets a hint of something when Fury one day grunts "It's beyond top secret." and she can't help but wonder what the fuck that meant, beyond top secret. Why was it so secret that she couldn't know? Why was no one telling her what happened to her partner? Where was he? Was he even alive? So she threw herself into her work, trying not to think about the possibilities, and trying not to admit to herself how much this really bothered her. She got paired up with Steve for missions, and she was gone all the time. She was barely at the tower anymore, barely sleeping. When she did, it was because she was slipped sleeping pills by Hill, after she'd tell Coulson how she was doing and he'd slip her a bottle of pills Natasha used a lot when she started out at S.H.I.E.L.D. . 

"How was she the last time you saw her?" Coulson asked over the phone one day, his team wondering why he always shut himself up in his room on the Bus at least once a week to make mysterious phone calls. 

"Compared to normal people or normal for Agent Romanoff?" Hill quipped, although Coulson could hear the tinge of worry in her voice.

"So, not too well then." It was a statement, not a question. 

" She's...dealing. Everything has been flipped on it's head in the past year, and no one has taken it very well. Loki, the Chitauri, Agent Barton being controlled, and then his disappearance...."

"Is he alive?" Coulson couldn't help it. Barton was...used to be...his responsibility. He was his handler, his friend. When he'd come home nine years prior with a certain red head stepping out of the helicopter behind him, glaring at anyone that wasn't Clint, Coulson almost killed the archer himself. But now...

"He is...as far as we know of. He hasn't checked in in awhile." Hill finally said, looking around her office and eying what she considered a suspicious looking planter.

"So he is on a mission?"

" I can neither confirm nor deny." Hill replied, her tone making it all too clear that they were steering into dangerous, high level secrets that should not be said allowed in unsecure lines...or places.

"Right." Coulson sighed and picked at the lint on his suit jacket, wishing for the first time in awhile that he was back in the thick of it at headquarters, manning his two spies, just like the good ol' days. At least then he'd know where they were...usually. "Look...Hill..."

"I'll contact you if something bad happens." Hill knew about his connection with his handles, everyone did. It was a soft spot that no one talked about, and in an odd way, it was out of respect. Coulson wasn't entirely thrilled when Clint brought Natasha back after his mission to go kill her, but the rate to which Coulson took to her was astounding. Where everyone else saw an angry threat, someone they should jail and take extra precautions with, Coulson and Clint saw someone misunderstood and in need of a second chance at life. They defended her and she defended them, and that's how things were.

Until Loki.

"Thanks. Goodbye Agent Hill."  Coulson hung up the phone and sat in silence for a few minutes before he heard a banging at his door and FitzSimmons shouting at him that they had an emergency, Ward was getting more and more angry and they think it could get dangerous. Back to work...

Life went on. 

S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, Hydra rose. 

And then everyone was in the wind, at least in the most metaphorical sense. 

Natasha was glad for the security and safety to Tower lended to her now, her files all over the internet, all her covers blown. She worked odd jobs, as they were, helping Steve occasionally on his search for his manic best friend, going on mysterious missions for the new S.H.I.E.L.D. director (Although she was yet to find out who it was, what with Fury gone in hiding.). But when she wasn't working, she stayed in the Tower, the hounds wanting to buzz outside but being kept at a significant distance by Stark's security team, which had quadrupled since the incident with the Mandarin. 

Then one day she, Steve, and Bruce (Thor met them in England later, having stayed there with Jane. Stark was still not cleared from his surgery to go on dangerous missions like this.) get a rather cryptic order from the mysterious Director to go to a remote location somewhere outside of Zakopane, Poland. It was winter, and it was freezing, and the team couldn't help but wonder why they were miles from the town in the woods, up in the mountains and freezing their asses off. They were told to wait at a certain spot, and expect plenty of gunfire, possibly some lasers, and "Other dangerous shit. I won't lie, you might not make it out of this." the message read. Natasha couldn't help but think it had a certain Coulson tone to it but she shook it from her mind. There was no way. There was a lake a couple of miles away, and they had been told if the shit really hit the fan, run for that. Well if that wasn't the most cryptic shit she'd ever heard she didn't know what was. 

"I don't know about you guys but I can't feel my ass." Bruce commented suddenly, sitting patiently near Steve, bundled up despite the fact that he may soon be Hulking out. 

"That's nice. Thank you so much for sharing that Banner." Steve grunted. 

"What? I'm sorry Captain Icicle, we can't all be so adept to the cold as you." Bruce snapped.

"Captain Icicle? You've been hanging out with Stark too much." Natasha commented, her tone more jesting than serious.

"Well I do work for him now, and live in the Tower. It was inevitable." Bruce replied, shrugging.

" Doctor Barton, what..." Thor's sentence was interrupted by the sound of gunshots in the distance  followed by a few explosions, and then a loud crack.

"This must be it." Natasha breathed. "Get ready guys." Steve pulled his shield from his back, Thor steadied his hammer, and Bruce Hulked out, the sound of the frenzy (which had now been joined by what else, dogs, as well as men shouting and the sound of snow skis.) grew louder and louder. Natasha dared a peak around the bend of the little hill she was hiding behind, the sound now loud enough to be not too far off, and her eyes went wide at what she saw. The thousand plus questions along with the good punch to the face that ran through Natasha's mind got pushed to the side as soon as the first bullet hit next to her head. A young man with odd silver hair , and a young woman with deep red hair, both in matching dark coats were running towards them, followed quickly by none other than Clint Fucking Barton. Off in the distance Natasha heard the distinct sound of a bazooka being fired and missing him by mere feet, causing him to run faster, nearly caught up with the young woman in front of him. 

"Pete! Back stab, now! Five o'clock!" the young woman shouted ahead, just as a group of rather sinister looking men on snowmobiles got dangerously close. In an instant the men were off the vehicles and on the ground, seemingly haven been stabbed in the back out of no where, and the group got closer. 

"Wanda, cover for me!" Clint ordered, skidding to a halt and turning to face a small group of men on foot, his bow raised. The young woman stopped as well, standing right behind him, her back turned to Natasha, but the unmistakable stance of someone on a protective guard evident. As Clint took down men running towards them, Natasha wondered just what Clint had meant. The girl was unarmed and looked for all intents and purposes, harmless, but that's what people thought of her at first, and boy were they wrong. The young man with the silver hair had disappeared,  and Natasha heard the sounds of bones breaking and being crushed in the distance. She looked at the now dwindled group of men coming towards them, and saw to her amazement, many of them falling without being hit, some of the bone  crushing sounds coming right from them. She could hear Steve shout orders, and the Hulk crashing through the woods, taking men out. Thor was off in the distance, the sound of thunder crashing down giving away his location.  

Then Natasha heard the crack of a stick breaking behind her, and in the span of ten seconds, took down three men with her gun and Widow Bites, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She began shooting into the trees, seeing men in black uniforms growing ever closer. After a minute, she felt her arm being grabbed and came within half a second of Biting the person who touched her when she noticed they were dragging her forward, towards the lake. Even through her suit she could feel the surprising warmth Clint gave as they ran, although his presence didn't feel the same. Not anymore. Not after so long. She saw the young woman running right behind her and suddenly the other one, the young man, was ahead of them, bloodied and bruised but looking no more worse for wear than anyone else, and they ran. 

"No time to explain, tell the others to fall back to the lake. You have a comm right? Do it now. We're retreating. This is our exit plan. Surprise!" Clint shouted through the increasingly loud din that had been joined by the wind and the sound of her heart beating faster. 

Natasha told Steve to get Thor and Bruce and retreat back to the lake, no questions asked, and was surprised when he agreed to it, the sounds of battle still raging behind her, but a more definitive sound of destruction marking the end. 

"Clint, how is the la..." and then she saw it. The monstrous black plane hovering just above the iced over lake, low enough for them to get on if the back was open, but high enough to beat a hasty retreat.

"Run faster. Must. Run. Faster." Clint said, as they finally got onto the lake. Natasha dared to look back and saw Steve, Thor, and an un-Hulked Bruce surprisingly close behind them.  The hatch at the back of the plane opened , then lowered down five feet off the ground. The young man was suddenly running with his sister, grabbing her hand and the two simultaneously jumping onto the ramp, up and past three people poised with guns, firing at the stragglers who'd followed them out onto the lake. Clint and Natasha were next, and then she heard a thump, and Steve, Thor, and Bruce were all on board as well. Gunfire continued as the hatch was rising, and she saw a young man with curly hair dash past her, holding something that sounded like it was ticking, and tossing it out the hatch as it closed. As the plane started to ascend, she heard a loud explosion, several loud cracks, and heard the screams of the men falling into the lake. A rather young looking woman ran into the room, her expression irate to say the least, and made a beeline for the young man with the curly hair.

"You aren't supposed to be doing stuff like that Fitz! I said I'd take the bomb myself!" she reprimanded. The young man, Fitz, looked a bit sheepish but then he shrugged, as if tossing bombs off of planes and drowning twenty plus men in an icy lake was something he did every day. For all Natasha knew, it was. 

"I'm fine Simmons. The thing wasn't that heavy, and it's not like..." 

"Not like what? Hm? What if you collapsed again? What if you blacked out? What if you'd spaced out and not gotten it off the plane in time Fitz? I knew..."

"It was too early for me to be out of the medbay, yes , I know. I'm fine though. And they needed help. Look, all alive, relatively happy...I think. Job well done." 

"Fitz..." Simmons began. Fitz took one of her hands in his and squeezed them lightly. 

" I know, I'm sorry. Next time you can take the ticking bomb and throw it off the plane. I promise." This got a smile out of the young woman and she turned to the others. 

"Hello there, welcome to the Bus, one of the only currently functioning New S.H.I.E.L.D. aircrafts out there. My name is Jemma Simmons, biotech. This idiot here is Leo Fitz, engineer and idiot. The other three, I expect, will want to make a dramatic reveal. Or at least _one of them_ will." she eyed the tallest person of the group of three people bundled up in dark snow gear, that had been shooting at the bad guys and were now staring (they thought) at them. The person in question shrugged then shook their head, and Simmons sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. " Or not. I'm taking Fitz here back to the lab." 

Everyone was frazzled. Bruce, Steve, and Thor were confused, as was Natasha if she was to be perfectly honest. The mysterious people in the black were just standing there, and Clint, that Pete fellow, and the girl, were already walking towards them, Clint noticeably on guard. 

"Hello," the red haired woman said to the three people. " my name is Wanda Maximoff, and this is my brother Pietro. I call him Pete. We are very grateful for your aid in our escape from that awful Hydra facility." The middle one nodded, and Wanda tilted her head, curious. "Do you...do none of you...talk? Is there..."

"No, he's just being overdramatic." a voice to the left of the man said, taking off their goggles, balaclava, and scarf. "My name is Melinda May. It's nice to meet you Miss Maximoff. I've heard a lot." 

"As have I about you. What is it they call you? The Calvary?" Melinda stiffened a bit but nodded. 

" She doesn't like to be called that." the voice to the other side of the man said, taking off their stuff as well. A young woman with brunette hair up in a ponytail revealed herself, smiling at everyone. "Yo all, I'm Skye. No last name. It's a mystery, just like me. Literally. No rep as of yet, at least not one that I know of." 

"Hello Skye." Clint greeted, smiling amiably at the girl. Natasha couldn't help the eyebrow raising, it was like Clint to be like that. She knew he didn't always mean to sound flirty but sometimes that man... 

"And hello to you Hawkeye." Skye flirted right back, a huge grin on her face. "I have heard a LOT about you. And the woman who is glaring at me right now from over there." Skye nodded in Natasha's direction, and she was quick to try and change her features before Clint looked over as well. The smirk on his lips told her she hadn't entirely eradicated the glare, and that made her want to glare even more. "Don't worry Romanoff, I've been too recently crushed by love in epic proportions to even consider it. Your man will stay your man. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to go deal with something upstairs. The lounge is through those doors over there and up the stairs, take the first door on the left. We have food waiting for you, as I'm sure you're hungry. We won't be back in New York until tomorrow, so we have set up sleeping areas for you up there as well. Talk to one of us if you need anything." with an air of surprising authority, the young woman turned and went up a flight of stairs, followed by May, leaving the man still in his guise, with the rest of them. 

"And just who might you be, dark shooter?" Thor inquired in a way only Thor could. From a balcony above, a young man, dark skinned and very fit, called out to the people below. 

"Yo, buddy, stop being so damn dramatic. I need your help with something in the gym. That stupid motion detector is on the fritz again and I can fix it but I need someone to hold part of it up. I ain't even gonna attempt to ask Fitz, not with Jemma guard dogging him." The tall figure visibly slumped, their annoyance at being robbed of a super dramatic reveal evident. He nodded at the rest of them and then the man got a confused expression on his face. When he pointed at where a badge might be on a belt buckle, the man on the balcony sighed and rolled his eyes. "Seriously?" a nod from the covered man. "Fine. Fine, whatever. If it gets you up here faster. Hello everyone, I'm Antoine Triplett, yes THAT Antoine Triplett, Howling Commando descendant Triplett. Don't like to advertise it. And as of now, you are all level highest as fucking possible because we haven't worked that out yet, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Welcome back to the madness. Your Director would like to say a couple of words before he comes up here and helps me with this damn motion detector." with that, he walked off and through an automatic sliding door, and the room was silent. Finally the man took his gear off, and everyone held their breath. When they saw who it was, the room exploded. 

"I was told you were dead!" Bruce.

"Fury told us you'd died! I went to your funeral!" Steve.

"Son of Coul! You live!" Thor. (Obviously.) 

"You asshole!" Natasha. 

"Fury made YOU the new Director? Seriously?" Clint. 

"Hello Director Coulson." Wanda and Pietro. 

"I've heard much about you." Wanda added. 

"Hello Ms. Maximoff." Coulson replied, smiling. He shook her hand, and her brother's, before turning to the rest. "I know. Believe me, I know. You all have a lot of questions you want answered, and you're all angry, and rightfully so. It is however a long story, one we do not have the luxury of sitting down and discussing. For now I'd suggest going up to the lounge and trying to get some rest. That's an order." with an expression and tone that broke no argument, he left , going up the stairs and through the door Triplett had gone through before. Everyone was silent, words failing them, before Clint shrugged and started walking towards the staircase Skye had indicated earlier. Wanda and Pietro followed, then Thor and Bruce, leaving Natasha and Steve alone in the hanger. 

"Natasha I..." Steve began, unable to find the words to comfort his friend.

" Well I mean this is good though right?" her voice sounded cracked "He wasn't dead after all. Just in hiding, doing other more important things . For over a year. Just like..." Natasha shook her head and started for the staircase, her stance guarded and her expression just as stoic as Clint's had been a year before.

"Natasha..." Steve called, running up behind her. "I'm sure Agent Barton and ....Director Coulson didn't mean to... I mean I'm sure they kept their secrets for their own reasons, and I doubt any of it was meant to hurt you." Natasha couldn't help but smile at Steve's willingness to defend others, no matter what. She stopped half way up the staircase and turned to look at him.

"I know." she replied. "Which is exactly why I am so angry with them. They should have known better by now."

"I don't think Clint nor Coulson believed you couldn't take care of yourself." Steve said, somewhat defiantly. "Natasha, you're clearly someone they both care about very deeply, and if they lost you, who knows what would happen to them. I don't know Coulson very well, but I saw and have seen how Agent Barton looks at you. I'm not blind, I know love when I see it. Even if you don't belie..." Natasha shook her head vigorously and he saw her expression go sad.

"Love is for children Captain." she repeated her age old response whenever asked if there was someone...special.

"Then we are all children." was Steve's impressive reply. "Especially Barton in this respect. He cares about you a great deal. You're probably his entire world. The person he trust above everyone else, the person who always had and has his back, the one who always cared. And that is a powerful motivator, and a powerful threat." Natasha did not miss the look that passed through his eyes, the look of hurt and sadness. He'd gotten some leads on the Winter Soldier, but they always grew metaphorically cold. " You can either let it propel you further in your life or let it destroy you. You have the power to destroy that man and he knows it." 

"As he does me." Natasha admitted quietly. Steve nodded and then glanced up at the door everyone had gone through. 

"Talk to him." Steve began again. "Later though. Right now we need food and sleep. But tomorrow, when we're back at the Tower, talk to him."

"I will." Natasha said over her shoulder as she continued her trip up the stairs. 

"And Natasha?" Steve couldn't help the smirk growing on his face.

"What?" she called back.

"Try not to kill him." 

 

The end.

 


End file.
